On Monday, one day before the NFL’s trade deadline, 49ers’ GM John Lynch struck a stunning deal with the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick to acquire quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a second-round pick in the 2018 draft. The deal was an overwhelming victory for both Lynch and Kyle Shanahan.

The trade was a familiar move for Belichick, who has made a habit of trading his backup quarterbacks in recent years. In 2009, he dealt Matt Cassel for a high second-round pick. He traded Ryan Mallett for a late-round pick in the 2014 draft, and he moved Jacoby Brissett to the Colts in September.

Many questioned why Belichick would trade Garoppolo for only a second-round pick, but I think it’s likely that he fears Garoppolo could wind up in free agency going to a potential AFC Super Bowl contender in Pittsburgh, Denver, Buffalo, or Jacksonville.

By sending him to the NFC, that’s one less quality quarterback that he will have to defend inside the conference.

Garoppolo’s career thus far has been defined by patience and determination. He was born and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago and went to Eastern Illinois.

He busted out in 2013 by winning the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the top player in FCS after he threw for over 5,000 yards, completing 66 percent of his passes for 53 touchdowns and only nine interceptions.

He was chosen as the Offensive MVP of the East-West Shrine Game. Garoppolo wowed scouts with his skill set, which includes a quick trigger, a smooth-throwing motion, and a clean, compact delivery.

Garoppolo, a durable and experienced four-year starter, shows many of the intangibles that NFL teams covet in their starting quarterbacks. He’s tough and poised in the pocket and will stand in and take a big hit to let his receivers work to get open down the field. He’s highly competitive, smart, respected, and is considered to have an outstanding football IQ and terrific work habits.

These traits led the Patriots to draft him in the second round of the 2014 Draft. Despite his talent, Garoppolo has consistently sat the bench behind Tom Brady. He has only thrown 94 career passes. To put that in perspective, CJ Beathard has already thrown 110 passes in his brief NFL career.

Garoppolo is not without flaws. He’s a little undersized at 6-foot-2 and 226 pounds and has small 9 1/4″ hands. He has short arms and a three-quarters delivery which could lead to batted balls. He doesn’t have a top-tier arm and will hang the deep ball on occasion. While his mental makeup is considered a strength, some scouts have questioned his huddle presence, due to his quiet personality.

Lynch made it clear that the 49ers have had their eye on Garoppolo for quite awhile.

“Jimmy is a player we have researched extensively since Kyle and I joined the 49ers,” Lynch said in a statement. “I am extremely pleased this came together and we all think it is a big win for our organization. Albeit in limited game action, Jimmy has displayed the characteristics and traits that we believe are vital to being a successful quarterback in this league. He has had the rare opportunity to sit and learn from a future Hall of Fame quarterback in a championship atmosphere. We look forward to Jimmy joining the team and hitting the ground running.”

Lynch and Shanahan acted boldly in making this trade and it’s a fantastic deal for them for multiple reasons.

The quarterback market this offseason promises to be intense. The Giants and Steelers may be searching for new quarterbacks if Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger opt to retire. The Jaguars have built an intriguing young team with a dominant rusher in Leonard Fournette and an athletic, young defense and they are likely to pursue a quarterback.

The Broncos, Vikings, Bills, Browns, Jets, Saints, Packers, Ravens, Dolphins, Chargers, Colts, Cardinals and Patriots may all be looking for a quarterback to develop. Lynch’s move assures that the 49ers won’t be the team left standing in the game of musical quarterbacks.

The trade may indicate that Lynch is not enamored with the 2018 crop of college QBs. The quality of the crop of quarterbacks for the upcoming NFL Draft is highly speculative at the moment.

Sam Darnold is considered the best of the class and he’s thrown 10 interceptions. Josh Rosen of UCLA has been up and down. He has elite arm talent, but scouts question his makeup, toughness, and durability. Washington State’s Luke Falk has been benched twice this season. Josh Allen has not been efficient this year at Wyoming.

By trading for Garoppolo, Lynch took himself out of being forced to make a very difficult personnel evaluation on a quarterback in the top five.

The trade also gives Lynch tremendous draft day flexibility. Every year teams tend to fall in love with a particular quarterback prospect in the months leading up to the draft in April. With quarterbacks, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and when you consider two factors, the depth of this QB class and the large number of NFL teams potentially looking for one, and it may present Lynch with his next big move.

If a team falls in love with a particular quarterback, Lynch may be able to use his top three pick to acquire a bounty of picks in a trade-back scenario. Anybody who has watched the first eight games of the Shanahan/Lynch era knows that the 49ers have many personnel needs, and it’s likely in their best interests to trade back for multiple picks.

The 49ers have no guarantee that they can acquire Kirk Cousins. The Redskins’ brass of Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen are determined to keep him and they can opt to franchise him for $34 million next season, keeping him off the market altogether.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

If Cousins were to hit the open market his price tag would likely far exceed what the 49ers will wind up paying Garoppolo. There is also the age factor to consider. Cousins is four years older than Garoppolo, and acquiring him might shorten any potential winning window for the team.

The deal guarantees that Garoppolo will get extra time to learn Kyle’s somewhat complex system. Shanahan is widely considered to be a bright young offensive mind, but his system takes time to master.

Matt Ryan struggled with Kyle’s offense in 2015, completing 66 percent with 21 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. But after a year in the offense, and with an improved cast around him, he busted out in 2016 with an MVP season, completing 69 percent with 38 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.

Due to their six-year contracts, Lynch and Shanahan likely won’t be forced to rush Garoppolo. Shanahan seems committed to giving Garoppolo several weeks to learn his system and even went as far to suggest that he may not play at all in 2017.

The strength of the 49ers’ offense are the tackles, but both Joe Staley and Trent Brown are currently out with injuries. The 49ers have allowed the second-most sacks in the NFL and that’s with a healthy Staley and Brown. I would expect that Garoppolo won’t see the field until Staley is ready to play.

While Shanahan and Lynch have those lengthy deals and the trust of ownership and the majority of the fan base, both have their detractors. Shanahan was brought to the 49ers and billed as a quarterback whisperer. He was supposed to be the guy who could correctly identify and develop top quarterbacks.

He handpicked Brian Hoyer and watched as he posted his worst passer rating in five years. He benched Hoyer after six games. Beathard statistically has been even worse. Shanahan claimed this week that he doesn’t evaluate his quarterbacks based on stats. Good thing, because the Hoyer/Beathard combo’s QBR is the third worst in the NFL.

Lynch was beginning to get more heat in recent weeks for passing on quarterback DeShaun Watson for Solomon Thomas. This trade likely quiets their critics.

The best part of this trade for the 49ers is that they are getting a healthy 26-year-old quarterback who has been groomed perfectly in a winning program. He watched Brady everyday for four years, so he knows what a good offense is supposed to look like, and he understands playing to a standard and playing with intensity and a focus.

He has endured the difficulty of transitioning from college where HE HAD NO PLAYBOOK to the complexity of a weekly NFL offensive game plan. He played in a spread system at an FCS school in college and was never under center, Over the last four years, he’s learned how to run an NFL offense with shifts, motions, audibles, ball handling on play-action. He’s learned the position without taking the punishment that can erode a young quarterback’s’ confidence.

Garoppolo has ties to the Shanahan family. He played at Eastern Illinois, the alma mater of Mike Shanahan. Kyle also met Jimmy when, as the Browns’ OC, he was scouting him prior to the 2014 draft. Kyle identified two quarterbacks he liked in that draft, Derek Carr and Garoppolo and now he’s got his guy.

Like our San Francisco 49ers Facebook page for more 49ers news, commentary and conversation.

Garoppolo recalled the meeting this week: “It’s kind of crazy. When you really think about it. Just how everything has a way of working out. When we first met we were at Northwestern and he was working me out with a couple of their coaches and their GM and there was a good relationship between us. (We are) Both offensive-minded guys and something was clicking and I’m glad I got this opportunity to match back up with him.”

Garoppolo won two rings as a backup in New England, but that’s with guys named Rob Gronkowski, Chris Hogan and Julian Edelman — and now he has George Kittle, Pierre Garcon and Marquise Goodwin. The 49ers are realistic and will be patient, but they are hoping he can win two more as a starter with them.